Buying an EV- is now the best time?

facade

Grumpy_chap said:

facade said:

I hadn't thought of a Niro, 

My Nephew, and then my Brother, purchased the Hyundai equivalent which is called the Kona.  My Brother certainly sings the praises, having swapped from a history of "premium" vehicles - Mercedes, Audi, Evoke - he says it is as good as any of them once you get over the badge.

What types of deals are there on the e-C4?  If that fits budget, it may well be expected to have legendary Citroen ride.  I have never driven one so cannot advise.

When selecting an EV, you may wish to confirm the NCAP rating as part of your assessment of suitable models.  Some of EV's have managed to achieve the "zero" rating, which must take some doing.

Thanks,

Actually, the Citroen e-C3 looks ideal, but as soon as you want one with Satnav and a reversing camera, the price is £24K (it gets gangsta windows and a heated front screen too- which are nice, but £2k for about £200 extra stuff is a bit steep)

The range looks ok in the warm weather, but it has lithium iron phosphate batteries and no battery heating so it will plummet in Winter, which is still ok as I won't want to drive 100 miles plus in freezing weather anyway.

£24K is well over budget, hopefully they sell like hot cakes, and prices continue to tank so I can get one next year.

Ectophile

I bought a nearly new Zoe at the end of last year.  1 year old, 3K miles, £16K.  So you should have no problem finding one at £15K.

Not all had CCS charging, so check that if you're planning longer journeys.

On 16" wheels I find the ride fine.  Not that wafty, bot not crashy either.  As well as a softer ride, the smaller wheels actually give better range too.

Range at this time of year is 200 miles without trying.  Drive carefully, and the WLTP figure of 239 is actually achievable.  Knock a few miles off in winter.  Maybe 160 to 180 real World range.

The "connected services" - mobile app, etc. - run for 3 years and then need renewing.  As yet, Renault UK don't seem to know what to do with that, and allow free renewal, but that may change.

It's anyone's guess how reliable any given car will be.  Many faults seem to be down to a failing 12V battery, which needs replacing every few years.  If it goes flat, all sorts of random unrelated faults can appear.

born_again

You want Magic Carpet ride.
There is only one that gets constant reviews on how great the ride is

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408303478808?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Citroen&model=e-C4&page=1&postcode=ls212ay&year-to=2024&fromsra

I drive a E-Niro... Great car, range is fantastic. Best 322 & worst 290 over the last year for me.

Vectis

But, to go back to the op's first post...

'Why would you just throw away £15K to "get rid" of one after 12 months, unless there is a Big Problem with them?'

I get that every new car has depreciation, but why so much with an EV, and why are people apparently getting rid of them, and losing a hell of a lot of money, after only 12 months?

We live on the Isle of Wight, so no long distances and an EV would, in theory, be ideal, but there's this nagging doubt about them. I know there's always people who, for some reason, trade their car in after a very short time, and that's ICE vehicles as well as EVs, but given that EV's are generally more (quite often a lot more) expensive, why would you do that? It just nags at me that there's a problem that people aren't mentioning or that, somehow, they just don't live up to expectations?

Petriix

Often these cars were leased or run through businesses or heavily discounted in the first place. Sometimes people change jobs or move to a different area and have different requirements. Some people just like to have a new car every couple of years (and have more money than sense).

With EVs, some people may have bought them without understanding the practicality for their circumstances e.g. with no access to cheap home charging or being dependent on public charging. In those cases I really wouldn't recommend getting one at the moment.

I feel sorry for anyone who bought a new MG5 in the last year or so. You can currently buy a brand new one for around the same price people are asking for an 18 month old one.

WellKnownSid

Vectis said:

It just nags at me that there's a problem that people aren't mentioning or that, somehow, they just don't live up to expectations?

We bought our Zoe as a second car.  The wife was dead against getting an EV because 'everybody knows they are rubbish' - but we're doing more miles in it than the hybrid so it's now our main car and I regularly have to wrestle the keys off her

Ectophile

Vectis said:

I get that every new car has depreciation, but why so much with an EV, and why are people apparently getting rid of them, and losing a hell of a lot of money, after only 12 months?

The people who buy an EV, hate it, and then get rid of it make a lot of noise about it, and that gets repeated over and over by the anti-EV brigade.

The people who love their EV, and replace it with another EV when the time comes, tend not to shout about it,

EVs are still too expensive when new.

Tesla (so far*) only operates at the top of the market.

The big Chinese manufacturers could flood the market with cheap EVs, but are still being cautious - maybe because so many countries with their own car industries slap massive protectionist taxes on Chinese imports.  These days the best and cheapest batteries come from China, and the price per kilowatt hour keeps going down. So Chinese companies are churning out cheap EVs by the millions.  But by the time they get to us, the price has more than doubled.

Meanwhile the "legacy auto makers" don't really know what they are doing.  They are used to making the bodywork, and all the oily bits, and know how to make a profit on that.  They buy in the electrics as that's specialist stuff.  But on an EV, the electrics are the most expensive bit.  Not knowing what to do, the auto makers sell a small number of EVs at a high price, and still make no profit on them.

But there are now plenty of EVs on the used market for anyone who wants one.  The change happened suddenly in 2023 as good used EVs went from rare and expensive to cheap and plentiful.  So they have now found the price that used car buyers are willing to pay.  In some cases, that's as little as 50% of the list price after one year.

*There have been strong hints that the Tesla Model 2 is on the way.  But Tesla always start delivery later than they intended to, sometimes by several years.  So don't hold your breath waiting for one.

facade

born_again said:

You want Magic Carpet ride.
There is only one that gets constant reviews on how great the ride is

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408303478808?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Citroen&model=e-C4&page=1&postcode=ls212ay&year-to=2024&fromsra

I drive a E-Niro... Great car, range is fantastic. Best 322 & worst 290 over the last year for me.

Yes, Citroen always used to have a good ride. What I really want is an electric 2CV. 4 doors, small, good ride, which is why the e-C3 is interesting.

Chap over the street has a Diesel C4 - I think it is a C4 anyway, and it is massive! (The C4 is supposed to be a compact car....) His is covered in dings & scrapes from his wife (he claims it is her anyway) crashing it into gateposts and things, she never did that with the 208...

I will try and get a look at one, the reviews on youtube only complain about the cup holders, the lack of a rear wiper and the seatbelt alarm going off if you put your shopping on the back seat- like I do.(You never open the rear hatch on a Renault, the wires snap virtually instantly), they do seem like a bargain though.

I still can't imagine why you'd throw away £15K to get rid of a car after 12 months if it can go 200 miles between charges, and costs about 7p a mile to run though....

WellKnownSid

facade said:

I still can't imagine why you'd throw away £15K to get rid of a car after 12 months if it can go 200 miles between charges, and costs about 7p a mile to run though....

Get an EV tariff and you'll pay under 2p a mile.

Most EVs are still sold to fleet - which can be anything from private leases to daily rental.  No-one will be throwing anything away.

born_again

Ectophile said:

Vectis said:

I get that every new car has depreciation, but why so much with an EV, and why are people apparently getting rid of them, and losing a hell of a lot of money, after only 12 months?

The people who buy an EV, hate it, and then get rid of it make a lot of noise about it, and that gets repeated over and over by the anti-EV brigade.

The people who love their EV, and replace it with another EV when the time comes, tend not to shout about it,

EVs are still too expensive when new.

Tesla (so far*) only operates at the top of the market.

The big Chinese manufacturers could flood the market with cheap EVs, but are still being cautious - maybe because so many countries with their own car industries slap massive protectionist taxes on Chinese imports.  These days the best and cheapest batteries come from China, and the price per kilowatt hour keeps going down. So Chinese companies are churning out cheap EVs by the millions.  But by the time they get to us, the price has more than doubled.

Meanwhile the "legacy auto makers" don't really know what they are doing.  They are used to making the bodywork, and all the oily bits, and know how to make a profit on that.  They buy in the electrics as that's specialist stuff.  But on an EV, the electrics are the most expensive bit.  Not knowing what to do, the auto makers sell a small number of EVs at a high price, and still make no profit on them.

But there are now plenty of EVs on the used market for anyone who wants one.  The change happened suddenly in 2023 as good used EVs went from rare and expensive to cheap and plentiful.  So they have now found the price that used car buyers are willing to pay.  In some cases, that's as little as 50% of the list price after one year.

*There have been strong hints that the Tesla Model 2 is on the way.  But Tesla always start delivery later than they intended to, sometimes by several years.  So don't hold your breath waiting for one.

Tesla is not a top end market brand or price.

Model 3 From £39,990
Model Y from £45K

Cheapest Niro EV £37,325
Cheapest EV6 £45,475
Cheapest BMW £46K i4
Merc £50K


Personally not one manufacture has introduced a new car that they had touted as being in the £20K price range.
Tesla could just do that... Maybe...

Not a Tesla fan either, but they are the one EV company that put their faith in EV's by building their own charging network.